Minister Kotromanović visits Albania

The Minister met with the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama and his Albanian counterpart, Minister Mimi Kodheli, and visited the Albanian Special Forces Command in Tirana.

The two delegations discussed the forthcoming NATO summit and the situation in South-east Europe, as well as the importance of regional co-operation and initiatives within the framework of Euro-Atlantic integration.
 
Regarding the possible new co-operation domains, the ministers considered new domains of inter-ministerial co-operation, such as the maritime radar imaging exchange, the participation of Albanian students at the Defence Diplomacy Course in the Croatian Armed Forcea and the defence sector reform experiences. The Croatian side also presented the Croatian defence industry and its products to the Albanians.

In view of the recent engagement of the Ministry of Defence and the Croatian Armed Forces to civilians and the local governments of the flood-hit areas, the two sides also envisaged enhanced co-operation in disaster response.
Furthermore, the Albanian side demonstrated the interest for the quality legislation pertaining to public procurement and active duty personnel promotion respectively, and the delegations agreed on further convey of expertise in the domain.

Minister Kotromanović pledged support of the Republic of Croatia to Albania in reaching the EU candidate country status, and the readiness of the Croatian Ministry of Defence to pass on the accession expertise on to Albanian officials.
In view of the comparable NATO accession histories of the two countries, the Albanian Minister emphasised that Croatia was the adequate model for Albania in the context of EU integration as well, and extended appreciation for the support provided and pledged.